


Piercing Decisions

by IvyCpher



Category: Epithet Erased (Cartoon)
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Ear Piercings, Earrings, Gen, Piercings, Shopping Malls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:28:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22550248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IvyCpher/pseuds/IvyCpher
Summary: When Sylvie goes to the mall with Giovanni and Molly he ends up getting his ears pierced.
Relationships: Sylvester "Sylvie" Ashling & Molly Blyndeff & Giovanni Potage
Comments: 15
Kudos: 96





	Piercing Decisions

When Sylvie went to the mall with Giovanni and Molly he had expected to probably pick up a few comics at the comic store and to maybe even get some cheap Chinese food from the food court for lunch. He hadn’t expected, however, to be sitting in the high stool of some little kid jewelry store, nervous as hell as he waited to get his ears pierced.

It was the first store they went into of course. Sylvie hadn’t wanted to go in because of all the childish stuffed animals and bright rainbow colours in the front windows, but Molly and Giovanni had practically  _ dragged  _ him in in their own desire to get inside. The store was filled with spinning displays of loud, kiddy earrings, necklaces, and earrings. There were also shelves of aesthetic phone cases, weird candies, nailpolish, and other various things that would keep some little kid- or in this case, Giovanni and Molly, occupied for hours.

It didn’t take long for Molly and Giovanni both to become distracted by the items the store had to offer. While Giovanni was busy spinning a rotating display of nailpolish, Molly was looking at a display that was nothing but earrings. When she noticed Sylvie’s disdain at an extremely gaudy plushie with eyes as big as his head, she waved him over.

“I’m sorry we dragged you in here,” She smiled, “You don’t like this store much, do you?”

With a shake of his head, Sylvie pushed up his glasses. “No- well, I haven’t really been in it before.” He shrugged and looked at the giant display of earrings. “The store looks really off putting from the outside... I’m not much for jewelry or big stuffed animals.”

Molly nodded and looked at the display, “It might have some things you like if you look,” She suggested. “If anything they might have earrings you’ll like!”

“Oh,” Sylvie plunged his hands into his pockets, “That might be tempting if I had my ears pierced.

“You mean you don’t?” Molly asked.

“And you do?”

Molly pushed back the hair covering her ears to reveal green gummy bear earrings, “Yeah!” She grinned then dropped her hair back into place. “Boss does too.”

Instinctively, Sylvie’s hand went to his earlobe. “Doesn’t it hurt though?”

With a shake of her head, Molly reached up and grabbed a pair of strawberry earrings from the display. “Not really, it hurts less than you think. I got them done uh… Two years ago?” She turned the earrings over to look at the price on the back and smiled. “They even give you a teddy bear to hug as tight as you want so you’re not scared.” She looked at Sylvie and suddenly her eyes lit up, she grabbed his hands. “You should get your ears pierced so we can match!”

Taking a step back, Sylvie’s eyes lingered on the giant wall of earrings. “I don’t know- I have to dress professionally at the office. I don’t think green gummy bears are very professional.”

Molly gasped and dropped Sylvie’s hands, “Green gummy bears are the most professional of gummy bears!” She chided. “Plus you can get professional earrings!” She grabbed a pair of silver heart earrings and held them out to Sylvie. “Like these, or there’s tons more!”

“Um,” Sylvie took the earrings and looked at them. “I mean, maybe if I see a pair I like then I’ll consider getting them,” He hastily put the earrings back on their hook. “But I don’t really know if I want to.”

“Oh well,” Molly shrugged, “It’s up to you, but maybe you  _ will  _ see something. Like-” She squinted at the display, then gasped. He hand flew to one of the higher hooks and she handed a pair of earrings to Sylvie. “Like these cute  Pokémon ones!”

Sylvie looked down at the pack of earrings that Molly shoved into his hands, his eyes widened. “These are Wooloo earrings!” He gasped, turning them over to check the price. $14.99. “They make Wooloo earrings?” He asked despite having the answer in his hands.

“Oh? Is that what they’re called?” Molly smiled, “They’re super cute!”

“Yeah, yeah they are!”

“So- you like them? Does that mean you’ll get your ears pierced?”

“Oh,” Sylvie’s face fell, “Can’t I just buy them and not have my ears pierced?” He asked sheepishly. “Keep them as a decoration or something?”

“Sylvie,” Molly giggled, “You’re really smart but you’re a big dummy sometimes… Earrings are already decorations, decorations for your ears!”

Tentatively looking down at the Wooloo earrings in his hand, Sylvie sighed, “And you swear it doesn’t hurt a lot?” He asked slowly. When Molly nodded eagerly, he sighed again. “Fine, where do we get them done?”

With a happy scream, Molly grabbed Sylvie’s free hand. “Come on, let’s go ask Giovanni to get someone!” And with that, Sylvie was dragged by the hand for the second time that day. Molly drug Sylvie over to Giovanni who was chatting up a pair of people who worked at the store; a guy and a girl who were both giggling and blushing in different shades of pink and clad in different pink and purple aprons.

“Giovanni, Boss!” Molly stopped besides Giovanni and tugged at his hoodie. “Sylvie wants to get his ears pierced!” She said breathlessly from excitement and running over from the other side of the store.

“Oh what?” Giovanni asked, turning away from the employees who he had so obviously been flirting with. He was a little pink in the face himself, but smiling as he turned to face Molly. “Wait, no shit, Sylv, you’re getting your ears pierced?”

Sylvie nodded, “Yeah,” He flashed Giovanni the Wooloo earrings. “They had these and I… I really like them.”

Giovanni took the earrings, “Of course you like Wooloo. How am I not surprised?" He asked. “Can he get these in if he’s getting his ears pierced for the first time?” He asked the employees besides him.

The guy employee, the one in the pink apron, took the earrings from Giovanni. “Hm. I don’t think so,” His name tag read  _ ‘Terri’.  _ He handed the earrings to his fellow employee in the purple apron.

The girl shook her head. “No, sorry,” She said to Sylvie. Her name tag said ‘ _ Sherry’. _ “We only have a certain few that we can use with the gun,” She handed them back to Sylvie. “But after the initial piercing you can wear different earrings in three weeks!” She smiled. “Do you want to see the earrings that we do have available though?”

Sylvie frowned at the fact that he wouldn’t be able to leave the store wearing the earrings that he wanted, but he nodded nonetheless. “Sure.”

Sherry elbowed Terri, “Why don’t you get it?”

Terri rolled his eyes, “If you come with me,” He said to Sylvie, “You can pick out your earrings while your brother fills out some paperwork. You have to be 18 to fill it out,” He shrugged at Sylvie’s confused look.

Sylvie didn’t bother to correct him that Giovanni wasn’t his brother. More and more people kept assuming that they were related, and at first he hated it, but anymore he didn’t mind it. Mostly because of the extra energy it took to tell them that they weren’t related and partially because Giovanni practically did act like an asshole older brother to him.

With a quick glance at Giovanni and Molly to make sure that they were following him, Sylvie followed Terri to the front of the store where there was a tall chair with a teddy bear on it and a podium with a lot of drawers.

Terri opened one of the drawers to pull out a handheld display of about thirty different earrings. He handed the display to Sylvie who moved the bear out of the chair to climb up into it. “The piercings start out at thirty dollars,” Terri said to Giovanni who had walked over with Molly.

“I’ll be paying for it,” Sylvie looked up from the display.

Terri blinked. “Okay then.” He opened another drawer and pulled out a few papers and a clipboard with a pen attached, he handed them to Giovanni. “These earrings are the cheapest-” He said to Sylvie, pointing to the first line in the display. “But the diamonds-” He pointed to the last row. “Are a hundred.”

Sylvie nodded. There were various earrings that he could choose from, ranging from simple black ones to coloured gemstones. He shuffled in his seat and looked down at Molly, “Which ones should I get?” He asked, showing her the display.

Molly hummed, looking at the display. “This was the pair I got my ears done with.” She pointed to a pink flower one. “Maybe you should get your birthstone!”

“My birth-what?” Sylvie asked.

Giovanni looked up from the paperwork he was filling out, “Y’know, there’s a stone associated with each month.” He handed the clipboard to Terri. “When were you born, Sylv? What month I mean.”

“August.”

"Oh easy!" Giovanni said quickly, "Peridot," He leaned over and pointed out the green gemstone amidst the others. When Molly and Sylvie looked at him strangely he stood up straight, "What? My mom is a major hippie and loves that junk."

Sylvie looked at the green gemstone, he liked it. He was also happy to find out what his birthstone was despite not knowing what a birthstone was just minutes before, "How much are they?" He asked.

Terri looked on the back of the display in Sylvie's hands, "forty-five dollars."

"I'll take them," Said Sylvie.

"Great choice!" Terri said, they took the display away from Sylvie and put it back in its drawer. "Hey, Sherry! I need your help with this piercing!" He called to his coworker as he removed more things from the various drawers. A pack of alcohol wipes, two piercing guns, a small box containing Sylvie's earrings, and a magic marker.

When Sherry hurried over, Terri handed her the pack of alcohol wipes. "This is just to clean your ears," She smiled, pulling out a wipe and leaning down to wipe it on Sylvie's earlobes.

The wipe was cold and made Sylvie's ears tingle, but he didn't mind. He eyed the piercing guns nervously as Terri marked both of his earlobes with a dot from the magic marker.

"Are you sure it doesn't hurt?" Sylvie asked as Terri loaded each of the guns with an earring.

Terri looked up and smiled at him, "Yeah, man, you'll be fine! Hardly hurts! And we're doing both of your ears at the same time so it'll hurt even less."

Sherry nodded, "It'll be over in a second!" She took the bear that Sylvie had moved to the podium so he could sit in the chair. "You want to hold them? You can if you're scared."

"I'm not scared!" Sylvie lied. "I don't need a bear to hold!" Despite what he said, Sylvie would've loved to hold the little bear, or even one of his own sheep. He was just thinking of summoning one when Molly slipped her hand into his and flashed him a smile.

"It'll be alright, Sylvie! We're right here!"

Swallowing a nervous lump in his throat, Sylvie nodded, "Okay."

Sherry and Terri each took one of the piercing guns and moved to a different side of Sylvie, putting the guns over the premade dots on his ears. "How about we count to three?" Terri suggested.

"Good idea," Sherry said. "You ready?" She asked Sylvie.

Sylvie nodded. He squeezed Molly's hand tightly and closed his eyes. "Go ahead."

"One…" Sherry and Terry said slowly at the same time. "Two… Three!"

And then there was a pinch and it was done.

It was uncomfortable and stung a bit, but it wasn't the horrible pain that Sylvie had expected. He peeked open an eye, "What- that can't be it. I thought it was going to hurt more?" He let go of Molly's hand and slipped out of the chair when Terri and Sherry stepped away from him.

"Kid, it's an ear piercing, not a tattooing," Giovanni rolled his eyes. "They look good on you," He nodded.

Terri grabbed a mirror from off the podium and handed it to Sylvie. "Not bad!"

Sylvie took the mirror and studied his reflection. His ears were bright pink and his new earrings stood out since he wasn't used to seeing himself in them, but he thought he looked good in them.

"You look great, Sylvie!" Molly said, leaning close to him to look at his reflection in the mirror.

With a shy smile, Syvlie handed the mirror back to Terri. "Thanks… I'm happy you convinced me to get them, Molly."

"It's no problem! Ahh, now it will be so much easier to get you birthday gifts!" Molly grabbed Sylvie's hand, "It's so hard to find things you like."

"What? No it's not," Sylvie held up the Wooloo earrings in his other hand. "You found these."

"Yeah, but I wasn't looking-looking for them." Shrugged Molly. "You ready to check out?"

"Yeah," Sylvie looked up at Giovanni, "What about you?"

With a nod, Giovanni put one of his hands in his pockets. Sherry and Terri walked past him on either side, brushing awfully close to him. "I just-" He cast a quick glance at them. "I saw this nail polish that I really liked- yeah, I'll be ready in a minute!" He quickly turned around, and followed Terri and Sherry. Even though Sylvie hadn't been in the store before, he was 99% sure that they hadn't gone in the direction of the nail polish.

Sylvie looked at Molly, but she didn't seem to notice, with a sigh he lead their way to the only cash register of the store. He put down his Wooloo earrings and convinced Molly to put up her strawberry ones so he could pay for them as well.

In a few minutes, Giovanni returned with Terry and Sherry. Oddly, Giovanni had a few bottles of nail polish in his hands when he returned.

"This comes with your earrings!" Sherry said helpfully, putting down a bottle of ear care solution as she rung up the rest of Sylvie's items. As she bagged his things, she grabbed a few papers from under the register and put them in his bag too. "And those have a bunch of tips and what to-dos and what not to-dos for your ears."

Sylvie paid for his things and stood with Molly at the front of the store while Giovanni bought his own things. He kept bringing a hand up to one of his newly pierced ears to feel the earrings. "They feel so weird."

"You'll get used to them after a bit. Just be careful taking off your jacket when you get home, it might catch on them and really hurt."

Wincing, Sylvie dropped his hand from his ears and into his pocket. "Noted."

Suddenly from behind them came Giovanni with his small bag of nail polish, "You two ready?" He asked, walking past them into the mall walkway. "I'm starving, and this food court has the best cupcake place."

With a shared smile, Sylvie and Molly both hurried to Giovanni's side and they all started to the food court, ready for a perfectly unhealthy lunch.

**Author's Note:**

> Sylvie was born in August and NO ONE CAN CHANGE MY MIND! August 22nd to be exact.
> 
> Also Terri and Shery aren't related, they're just great friends.
> 
> No one can tell me that Sylvie doesn't love Wooloo! Sylvie and Gio exchange friend codes to swap pokemon on switch,,,
> 
> Also×2... I mostly got this idea from the fact that I just got my ears pierced on Saturday and I was so scared I was shaking until the did it XD unlike Sylv though, they did my ears one at a time.
> 
> Comments are very much appreciated!!!


End file.
